Pride & Pettiness [Closed] - Printable Version

Pride & Pettiness [Closed] - Printable Version

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Pride & Pettiness [Closed] - megs - 05-11-2017

RE: Pride & Pettiness [Closed] - megs - 05-11-2017

Julianna was being shaken awake.

She didn’t like it. She whined and rolled over, pulling blankets and sheets tighter over her head, blocking out the light and the sound of Maeve’s voice urging her awake. The shaking stopped and Julianna assumed the assault was over, but instead Maeve draped her entire body over hers and tried to bear hug her into following instructions.

“I can’t breathe,” Jules complained from beneath the covers. Maeve rolled off of her and laid out next to her on the bed, head propped up on her hand. Pushing back the covers revealed her bright and cheery face surrounded by a bob of pale blonde hair.

“Good morning, sunshine.” Maeve reached out and poked her nose. Julianna’s ears twitched in response, and she blinked slowly.

“Why are you so excited this morning? What time is it?” She fumbled around for her phone blindly, until Maeve put it in her hand.

“Thanks, babe,” she mumbled, unlocking the device and checking the time and her notifications. Nothing interesting or pertinent. “Why are you waking me up this early?” Julianna groaned and dropped her phone on her chest, trying to sink back down under the blankets.

“I want you to get breakfast with me before class. It's not fun going alone.”

Julianna didn't have to look at Maeve to know she was pouting. “Fine. Let me get dressed.”

Julianna had transferred to the St. Arlen Conservatory for the Arts and Sciences in Eskra from Farbridge Collier University in Veridian last year. Her parents, the sitting monarchs of the archipelago, had decided it was time for their only princess to go out and be a part of a different world. Eskra was very different from home, but it had been easy enough for her to settle in. Being intelligent and attractive lent well to making friends. She had easily found one in her sorority sister, Maeve Reed, who she currently shared a room with.

The blonde bounced away to finish her makeup in their shared bathroom, leaving Jules to stumble out of bed to mindlessly sort through her morning routine. The young Veridian dressed for the day in a navy and green tartan skirt that flared outwards and hit just above her knees, and a navy blouse. She chose matching pumps and accessories in an infuriatingly over-the top show of color coordination, and she pulled her dark hair away from her face with sparkling barrettes and left the rest to fall over her shoulders.

“Are you ready, yet?” Maeve asked from the bathroom and Jules peeked around the door to find she was still applying mascara. Her ears fell to either side as she huffed and Maeve grinned.

Breakfast was uneventful. Maeve chatted at her over a muffin and coffee while Julianna studied and picked at a pastry. It didn’t take long for Maeve to broach the entirety of the reason she had invited Julianna to breakfast: Owen Hart. An insufferable man that sat in front of her in her Contemporary Political Discourse class that Maeve had some unreasonable fascination with. It wasn’t even that Maeve was interested in Owen; the blonde just insisted that Owen was interested in Julianna.

“He sits in front of me and we argue about politics for three hours. It’s not flirting.”

Maeve seemed to think otherwise.

And of course Maeve would bring up Owen right before the class they had together. Julianna had arrived early as she always did, her ears twitched at random intervals as she looked over her notes, preparing for the discussion they were to have that morning. She tried very hard not to think about Owen, or the stupid things Maeve had said about him. That he was teasing her because he liked her and other childish nonsense. Other students milled about around her as Dr. Weatherfare outlined the current topic on the whiteboard.

RE: Pride & Pettiness [Closed] - saronym - 05-16-2017

It was true what Maeve said about Owen. That he teased and tormented her because he liked her. It just may have been that he wasn’t doing it necessarily consciously. It was just something he felt compelled to do. His body and mind set themselves immediately on provoking her when he saw her. Maybe he liked the singular focus of her attention on him.

Today was no different.

Owen showed up to class, predictably, well after many others had. He never made a point in being early. He was dressed down in dark wash jeans and a t-shirt displaying his fraternity: Orelia. A black t-shirt with a grape vine printed over the left breast and the lettering of Orelia was printed in an arch above the fruit in gold letters that shimmered. Gold lettering featuring his last name HART were also printed on the back of the shirt.

He carried with him only a notebook he used for the class and his tablet. He slid into his assigned desk in front of Julianna.

It seemed for a moment that the day would be different as he didn’t say anything annoying or provocative. Didn’t greet or acknowledge her. Just slid quietly into his seat.

Until he didn’t keep his mouth shut or ignore her.

He rotated a half turn in the desk to look at her, spying nosily the notes she was pouring over. “Can I borrow a pen?” He asked, his eyes immediately swept over her outfit, they focused the longest on the barrettes that held her hair out of her face. He could feel his eyebrow raising and a smirk spreading over his face.

“I like your hair accessories there,” he said. Seemingly a compliment. Good start. “Very school-girl chic.” Annnnd he blew it. “Your outfit matches so well. Did your mom pick it out for you?” Why did this keep happening? Why did literal shit keep coming out of his mouth.

“By the way,” that’s how you knew he was going to say something really obnoxious, “Did you catch the results of the runoff elections?” Now he was really smirking. “Didn’t I tell you who the front runner was going to be?”

He’d scored some points for predicting this election result, but they often went tit for tat one-upping one another rhetorically, with political predictions, and the like. Today, he’d scored an early lead. Why he felt the need to rub it in when he was seeking to borrow a writing utensil was beyond reason.

RE: Pride & Pettiness [Closed] - megs - 05-16-2017

As Owen entered, Julianna very pointedly kept her face angled towards her paper, but her eyes rolled upwards to watch as he slid into his seat in front of her. She waited a few breaths for him to turn around and say something obnoxious. She was surprised when he didn’t, but also pleased, so she went back to focusing on her notes. For a moment, she let herself think that he was going to leave her alone today.

She was wrong.

Julianna heard him turn in his chair before he spoke. She exhaled slowly through her nose, eyes falling closed as if she were preparing herself for the moment. Her ears swiveled towards the sound of his voice, and she sat straighter to look at him as he presented her with a harmless question. It wasn’t a ‘good morning,’ but it was better than what he usually opened with. She didn’t answer him, but one ear fell lopsided. Ignoring the intricate fountain pens she had laid out near her notebook, she leaned to reach into the front pocket of her bag and pulled out a cheap and plain-looking ballpoint pen. Julianna held it out towards Owen, frowning as he smirked at her.

Her ears pushed forward and she blinked in surprise as he complimented her barrettes. Her ears pushed to attention as she went to thank him, and they quickly fell as he ruined it. Furred appendages made a flat plane off either side of her head, and her tail moved in a irritated rhythm. “I am perfectly capable of picking out my own clothing,” she snapped, flipping a page in her notes and looking away from him, again. “I am not surprised that color coordination is a thing that baffles you.”

Julianna’s ears twitched as he continued speaking, indicating that she was listening even though she felt like a conversational hostage. She checked her watch, mentally begging the minute hand to move faster so class would begin. Turning to a blank page in the notebook, she hoped he would take the hint that she didn’t want to talk to him. “Yes, it appears you did,” she attempted to make her reply sound aloof and distracted.

“The whole of these elections is far from over, however, so don’t get cocky.”

RE: Pride & Pettiness [Closed] - saronym - 05-17-2017

For a moment he left her hanging there offering him the pen he had asked for. There was something about making her wait to take the item he should be thankful to accept. Which, he wasn’t. His eyes flicked between the ordinary pen and her colorful and expensive looking fountain pens lined up neatly on her desk.

She was so unbelievably organized. What a contrast to most of their class and to college students as a whole, generally.

Slowly, he pulled the pen she’d offered him from her fingers. There was a smirk on his face as his eyes passed over the movements of her ears and tail. He liked when her ears laid that way when she was agitated with him.

Angry kitty.

But it was even better today with those eye catching barrettes and her hair half swept from her face. She was pretty much down-right adorable. And for some reason his solution to the problem of an adorable classmate was to pester and annoy.

“We will see about those elections in due time, Miss Haven.” He occasionally liked using the name the professor called or her during attendance to be extra annoying. “I happen to have my finger on the pulse of public opinion. You'll see.”

He frowned down at the pen in hand, “Speaking of which, could I borrow one of those?” The segue was awkward, but he didn’t care. He touched the tip of one of her fountain pens, wiggling it back and forth on the desk. “What’s a boy gotta do?”

RE: Pride & Pettiness [Closed] - megs - 05-17-2017

Even though she knew he was messing with her, she didn’t falter. She sat with her back straight and her arm extended towards him. The pen that balanced between her thumb and index finger did not waver with impatience. Julianna noted the way his eyes dropped to her nicer pens on the desk. Certainly not, take what she was offering and be grateful.

The pen was removed from her hand and she was able to return to her studying. He was still smirking as he looked at her ears. He was always looking at her ears. It didn’t bother her, because even though she wouldn’t admit it aloud, she found she liked the attention. He could have been less smug about it, sure, but it made it easier for her to give him to cold shoulder and keep him at a distance.

She was not interested in a repeat of her last relationship.

Julianna had filled half of her blank page with new notes while Owen was speaking. How she could possibly have more information to write down was baffling. But Owen was right, she was very organized and hated being unprepared for anything. She lifted her head, but only to frown and roll her eyes at him regarding his handle on public opinion.

Before she could respond, he was pointing down at her nicer pens and asking to borrow one, after she had just given him a pen to use. Owen touched the red handled pen in the middle of grouping and Julianna placed her entire hand over the bunch, fingertips sliding over his and pulled the set closer to her body. “No. I gave you a pen already.”

RE: Pride & Pettiness [Closed] - saronym - 05-18-2017

Owen wasn’t particularly deterred by the way she reacted to him. Off-put. Cold. And seemingly easy to anger. It was subtle but he could discern a harmlessness in her reactions. If she was truly not enjoying the banter he would be able to tell. Or so he thought.

Maybe it didn't matter in the end whether she minded. He liked watching her unravel. She was wound so tight it seemed. She needed him. This was his calling.

But it was little things, like that touch of her hand over his in the action of protecting her pens from him that clued him in. He certainly didn’t mind the contact himself. In fact, he preferred it.

“Yeah, but I’d like to try that one.”

He was pouting as his hand slid over the desk towards her. His index finger worked between her middle two so he could tap the fountain pen he’d been fiddling with before she took it away.

“These pens write so nicely.” His free hand was stroking the notes she’d half filled a new page with. “Just look at this.”

Now he was sort of experimenting with her, which would she choose to protect. Her precious notes? Or her precious pens?

RE: Pride & Pettiness [Closed] - megs - 05-18-2017

Ears sprung to attention as he deliberately touched her while trying to get to her pens. Green eyes glared back at him, and unrelenting gaze of displeasure despite his practiced pouting. “These pens would be wasted on you,” she countered, releasing the notes and clearly choosing the pens. Her hand pulled away from the notebook to swat at his and the pens were moved even farther away from him, but still not quite of of reach, given his determination and the length of his arms.

“I’ve seen your handwriting,” she continued. She had taken the three elaborate fountain pens off the desk and was now holding them in her lap. Her ears had fallen again, her tail was swaying behind her shoulders. “The pens write nicely, because I write nicely. Believe me, the other pen suits you.” She was the one smirking now, she leaned over and dropped the pens into her bag, leaving one out for herself. They were too expensive for her to be handing out all indiscriminately anyway, regardless of her feelings for the blonde.

Julianna silently willed time to move faster, so class would start and he’d leave her alone.

RE: Pride & Pettiness [Closed] - saronym - 05-19-2017

He mouthed ‘wow’ over dramatically when she insisted that he wasn’t good enough to handle such pens. His hand clutched at his heart and he did his best to look wounded. In truth though, of course, he wasn’t offended in the slightest.

“Something's gotten in your water, Miss Haven, you’re feeling frisky today.”

His word choice was obviously pointed insinuating that there were feline overtones in her behavior towards him. There really were. But that didn’t mean it was polite to point it out.

He wondered if she’d ever been called kitten in bed. Owen made a mental note to try the title on her at some point. He didn’t know if this woman would ever go to bed with him. Regardless whether she did or didn’t, he was going to tease her. It was just her fate. For being adorable and for sitting behind him.

“Please, here I’ll give my student I.D. as ransom.” He pulled out his wallet and showed her the plastic identification card used to access certain university facilities like the library or gym. “I need it later for my chem lab so I’ll be incentivized to return your precious writing utensil to you.”

RE: Pride & Pettiness [Closed] - megs - 05-19-2017

Owen was starting to annoy her. It was obvious in the way her ears twitched, pushed to attention at the top of her head. She continued to frown at him. Frisky was an interesting word choice, only because she knew he had chosen it on purpose. Her tail snapped towards the floor. How easily he slipped back and forth between obnoxious and downright rude.

“You’re annoying me,” she replied, with a low timbre that implied it should have been obvious. Which it was because they both knew he was doing it on purpose. Maeve's words rattled around in her head. It’s because he likes you. Later, and out of his presence she would be flattered that he was so lost with what to do with her that he was resorted to being a pain in her ass.

Julianna sighed sharply through her nose. She reached into her bag, again, and pulled out one of the fountain pens. It was not the nicest of the trio she had brought with her that day, but it was still too nice for him. Class was filling up and close to starting, and thanks to him she’d not gotten as far in her notes as she had wanted to. She snatched the ID from him and tossed it down into her bag and thrust the pen in his direction. She just wanted to be left alone.

“I expect this back at the end of class,” she warned.

RE: Pride & Pettiness [Closed] - saronym - 05-21-2017

She accused him of being annoying. He tried to look innocent, “Sorry I just get excited about school supplies.” He may have been mocking her a little bit because he knew how she so loved colored pens, cute little notebooks, stickies, page markers, and any and everything anyone could dream up for stationary needs.

His humor seemed to be grating on her, he could tell by the way she grabbed the I.D. and jerked the pen towards him. He accepted the writing utensil gracefully with a gracious bow of his head and rewarded her by turning around leaving her alone with her notes and the lecture. He did however look over at Julianna’s friend Maeve and flashed her victorious smile. He wiggled the pen in his fingers and winked at her.

Julianna might have expected the pen back at the end of class but that was not what she would get. As soon as Darcy released them, Owen tucked the pen behind his ear and slipped out of class. He didn’t turn back to even acknowledge Julianna as he knowingly snuck away with her pen.

As for his chem lab, he merely explained to the professor that he’d forgotten his I.D. that day. It wasn’t a big issue. After the class though, he found Julianna posted up in the hallway waiting for him. He’d sort of expected it, but acted surprised.

“Julianna,” he greeted her loudly which attracted some attention from the other exiting students. “You waiting for me?” He asked smirking down at her as he approached. “Fancy meeting you here when I was just about to go grab a burger and beer, care to join?”

RE: Pride & Pettiness [Closed] - megs - 05-21-2017

"Owen!"

Julianna stood up and called after him as he all but ran from the classroom, her pen tucked snugly behind his ear. Her tail flickered angrily and she smacked her hand down on the desk with a growl of frustration. He’d done exactly as he knew she would, and now he had he useless ID as replacement for her nice pen.

Maeve, who had been smothering her amusement at Owen’s little show, throughout the period, crossed the room to stand near Jules’ desk. “What’s wrong?” she sang as if she didn’t already know. Julianna gestured towards the door Owen had left through as she shoved everything back into her bag.

“He took my pen,” she complained, which only prompted Maeve to roll her eyes.

“It’s just a pen.”

Julianna growled again and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

“C’mon, or we’re gonna be late for class.”

After her own classes Julianna waited for Owen outside the chemistry lab. She’d abandoned Maeve and was very determined to get her pen back. She leaned against the wall, feet crossed at the ankles. Her ears were down and sticking straight off either side of her head. Her arms were crossed and she did not look pleased.

Her ears perked when Owen appeared in a crowd of students that flooded out of the lab. She pushed away from the wall and moved towards him as he pretended to be shocked to see her. Her ears pinned backwards when he greeted her loudly, other students were already starting to looking at them. Her tail curled nervously towards her spine.

“I just came for my pen,” she explained, uncrossing her arms and thrusting his student ID out towards him. “Here’s your ID. Just give it back.”

RE: Pride & Pettiness [Closed] - saronym - 05-24-2017

Owen curled his arm around her shoulders, turning her as he did so, forcing her to walk along with him. “Oh, you have my I.D. Thank you so much, I was looking for that.” He accepted the ID card from her and turned back to catch a glimpse of his professor standing at the door of the chem lab.

“Got my ID. She had it!” He wiggled the card in the air and received a thumbs up from his professor. This whole scene kept drawing the attention of students passing by in the halls. Owen didn’t seem to mind. With his free hand he shoved the ID down into the front pocket of his jeans and kept moving.

“So what’s this about a pen now?” He asked as he kept corralling Julianna along with that arm around her. “Did you want that burger? I’m heading to the parking garage now.” He was content to change the subject, as if the matter of her quite expensive pen wasn’t important. “So, what did you think of Dr. Weatherfare’s lecture today?”

He was daring now to toy with little free hairs where they had fallen from the hold of the barette that he'd ridiculed her about earlier.

RE: Pride & Pettiness [Closed] - megs - 05-24-2017

Julianna’s ears swiveled as he dropped an arm around her shoulders. The position put her closer to him, nearly tucked against his side, and beneath his arm. She expected it to be uncomfortable, but when she focused on matching her stride to his she found that they walked quite easily together. His hand curled easily around the curve of her shoulder. The remaining issue was she didn’t know what to do with her own hands. Touching him would only be encouraging, and that was what she was trying to avoid, so she kept her hands to herself.

If she’d wrapped the arm closest to him around his back, they would have been a perfect fit.

Owen was teasing her, and she was supposed to be frowning, but her expression had gone mostly far-off and neutral as she’d starting thinking about how nice he smelled and how warm he was. She wasn't noticing the stares of students around them. He was also still pushing her along, which he had been letting him do the entire time, heels clicking a rhythm on the floor.

“The pen I let you borrow in class this morning,” she reminded him, with the appropriate emphasis. She didn’t answer him about lunch or the lecture, but she kept walking with him as if that should be hint enough that she was willing to follow him around for the time being until the writing utensil was returned to her.

Apparently, she would be having lunch with Owen Hart, unless he decided to stop fucking with her beforehand. It felt like a game of chicken now, which one of them would cave to the other first. Which one of them was more unwilling to suffer through a meal with the other to get what they wanted. She wasn’t entirely sure, what Owen wanted; this all seemed like too much effort for a pen.

“It was a gift,” she explained. “A very expensive one, and it’s part of a set.” Was he playing with her hair? Her ears pushed to attention, tail swaying behind her knees. Yes, he was indeed. She tilted her head away from his hand, before halting her walk and ducking out from beneath his arm all together. The gesture had almost seemed affectionate. When had they become so comfortable?

It was her fault for indulging him.

“If you lost it, just admit it.”

RE: Pride & Pettiness [Closed] - saronym - 05-24-2017

Shortly after his fingers had begun their ministrations in her flyaway hairs, Julianna ducked out from under his arm. Okay. That was a sign. No hair touching. Got it.

Owen stopped for a moment in the hallway, turning to face her, he pinched the skin at the bridge of his nose and seemed to be trying to think very, very hard. “You know, I’m just.” his hand fell to his stomach, “My brain gets so fuzzy when I’m hungry.”

He held his arm out, indicating she should walk along with him, “Why don’t we settle this over lunch. Maybe a good ole’ carb load will jog my memory. I’m a big guy. High basal metabolic rate. Huge caloric demand here. It’s a big responsibility.”

Owen led her out of the building and across the street to where his car was parked in the garage. His hand went to his pants pocket to make his car chirp at him. “See? Can’t even remember where I parked half the time.” He followed the sounds of the chirping until it led them to shining black Camaro, the latest years’ model.

“There she is.”

He even made a show of opening the passenger’s side door for her. When he got in he gazed at Julianna pointedly, rather proud of himself that he had her in his car. He settled a pair of reflective aviators on his nose before he started the car.

It probably goes without saying that Owen drove like an asshole too. Sped too fast through the parking garage and around corners. Accelerated at the tail end of a yellow light to avoid having to stop. He seemed, however, to very much enjoy driving the car with that kind of cocky posture characterized by having just one hand poised casually at the top of the steering wheel.

Owen brought Julianna to the local college pub. Greasy bar food with an enormous selection of beer. The waitress led them to their booth and Owen let Julianna pick the side she wanted. He looked for a moment as if he would sit across from her at the booth - that was, in fact, where the hostess set his menu - but no, Owen slid into the seat next to her. He made room for himself by scooting her over with his hips.